Spring 2027

Adolescent Development

Examines biological, cognitive, social, and emotional development in the second decade of life, covering puberty, identity, peer roles, and high-risk behaviors.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Joao Moreira3.7/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Joao Moreira

The course is exam-heavy, with weekly comprehension quizzes and written assignments that some students felt were graded strictly. Study guides are provided to help prepare for tests.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Identify major subfields of developmental psychology and recognize how each of these areas of research contribute to our understanding of the mind, brain, and behavior in teenagers.

  • Understand how various different methodologies (e.g., magnetic resonance imaging, ecological momentary assessment, etc.) are applied with the scientific methods to use in research studies involving teenagers.

  • Critically evaluate research claims heard in everyday life (e.g., popular media, educational settings, academia, civic discourse, etc.).

  • Differentiate between myths and contemporary scientific evidence regarding teenage development.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

PSYCH 202

PSYCH 462 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.78/5 from 9 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Joao Moreira

Joao Moreira teaches an exam-heavy course with weekly quizzes and study guides, though written assignments were graded strictly. Students found the lectures engaging and the grading fair if they attended class, while others noted awkward pacing and condescending behavior in earlier terms.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.24 GPA, 58.7% A/AB (n=184 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.37 GPA, 67.7% A/AB (n=189 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

JOAO MOREIRA is recorded teaching in Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 3000

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Joao Moreira

Professor Moreira designed the class to make high grades achievable and clearly cares about student success. Students found the content interesting and appreciated his understanding approach to absences.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.24 GPA, 58.7% A/AB (n=184 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.37 GPA, 67.7% A/AB (n=189 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Joao Moreira

The course is exam-heavy, with weekly comprehension quizzes and written assignments that some students felt were graded strictly. Study guides are provided to help prepare for tests.

Past student reviews · Joao Moreira

Lectures were described as enthusiastic and relatable, with Professor Moreira engaging students conversationally. Some students noted the vibe became more personable as the semester progressed.

Topics

  • Pubertal development and social consequences
  • Self and identity development
  • Role of peers
  • School adjustment
  • High risk behaviors
  • Changing relationships with parents

Skills

  • Understanding research methodologies such as magnetic resonance imaging and ecological momentary assessment in teenage studies.
  • Critically evaluating research claims from popular media, educational settings, academia, and civic discourse.
  • Differentiating between myths and contemporary scientific evidence regarding teenage development.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
PSYCH 462 · Spring 2027

Adolescent Development

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:820:026821",
    "course_id": "PSYCH 462",
    "course_uid": "course_72cf42117e9af4a68de0e39d",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "026821",
    "source_subject_id": "820",
    "title": "Adolescent Development",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Not Applicable"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "34243e5d6bbe2be1ebf35004431d18462edd51dcf2010139c6ba78fde574194a",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}